Pictometry in Africa

Pictometry was officially launched in Africa at the Map Africa conference in Cape Town on the 25 and 26 August by AOC Geomatics’ General Manager, Ms Peta Hyam. "AOC, as part of the AAMHatch (Australia) Group, is pleased to announce the launch of Pictometry in Africa. Data capture across metro areas cities has commenced and planning is underway for the other cities and towns.

AOC and AAMHatch are pleased to be the exclusive Pictometry supplier for Southern Africa, and will work with Pictometry and the various government authorities to ensure that the full benefit of this exciting technology is available throughout the region."

Pictometry is a unique information system that combines aerial imaging with an intuitive user interface and range of valuable measurement and navigation tools.

The user interface and tools have the ability to provide Intelligent Imagery unlike any other system available. A digital warehouse of oblique and nadir (vertical) images is the foundation of this product.

Pictometry provides a new perspective in mapping by showing the built environment from a more intuitive angle. Oblique is the technical term used to describe an aerial photograph that is taken at an angle. This means that a feature, such as a house, building, street light or fire hydrant can be seen in its entirety, rather than the conventional top down (orthogonal) perspective of aerial photography. The result is a new revolutionary way to use aerial imaging.

Pictometry has broken new ground on providing metric oblique images that are accurately georeferenced down to the pixel level.

Pictometry’s digital aerial photos allow viewers to see detailed information of building and land attributes such as doors, windows, number of floors, building composition, roads, trees, and many features, yet they cannot be used to identify people or read license plates. Pictometry’s georeferenced imagery can be loaded into common GIS platforms such as ESRI’s ArcGIS so that it seamlessly overlays and interacts with existing spatial datasets.

[via]